Before you adopt a new trademark you should devote resources to making sure, to the greatest extent you can, that using that trademark will not infringe on some other party’s rights. This sounds obvious, but we see many trademark disputes occur because not enough effort was made before a new trademark was adopted.
Once you’ve identified the trademark you would like to use, we generally suggest that you look for the same and similar trademarks in your industry and related industry on the Internet. If you do not find anything that looks problematic, step two is to forward your results to a trademark lawyer and retain that lawyer to conduct a formal search. Most trademark lawyers, including us at Lilenfeld PC, will engage a vendor to conduct what is often called a “trademark availability search.”
The results from the trademark availability search are listed in a report, which consists of trademarks which are the same or similar to the trademark you are considering. The report itself does not offer any opinions about whether it is safe to adopt the trademark or not. Instead, your trademark lawyer will review the report and provide a legal opinion about the risks, if any, associated with adopting the trademark. Following this process will not guarantee that no one claims that your new trademark creates an issue, but it should greatly lower the risk and give your trademark the best start.
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